She's right it's like Gisele pulling on a catsuit meant for Kylie.

'With the Bengals, the stripes remain close.'

'It's Stephanie about the cubs,' Ty cuts in, appearing out of nowhere to hand Carrie a cellphone. She excuses herself, leaving Ty to glare at us.

I wait for him to speak, perhaps pick up the tour, but he says nothing.

'So what kind of things will Sasha be doing while she's here?' I ask, as he whips out a pair of pliers and sets to bending some spiky p.r.o.ngs of fencing round to a safer position.

'Oh we're going to have her manicuring claws, getting the panther coats to shine like a Pantene ad,' he deadpans. 'Maybe improve their catwalk skills ...'

That would be a good pun if it wasn't delivered with such spite.

'I guess we really should begin by finding one that matches her outfit,' he continues. 'How about you, Carlito?'

A fuzzy-furred snow leopard rears up and throws himself against meshing. Sasha stumbles back, terrified.

'No? Well, maybe she'd do better with the ladies.' Ty lets himself into a cage of seven or eight slinky-hipped tigers. 'Hey girls,' he greets them as they swish around his legs like house cats. 'I guess they just look like walking handbags to you, huh?' he stares pointedly at Sasha through the fencing.

Sasha looks as if she's been slapped. I'm too stunned by his aggression to speak. Could this just be his strange sense of humor?

'So you're a model?' He comes out and says what is obviously gnawing at his guts.

'Ex,' Sasha clarifies.

'D'you know Sonia Connor?'

'I worked with her once but I wouldn't say we were friends.'

'She's no friend of ours either.' Ty rumples the fur on one of the adoring tigers at his side. 'She claims she cares about animal welfare then goes out in a vintage coat with a fur collar and when someone asks her if it's real she's all, "I dunno!"' he snorts. 'If she cared, she'd know.'

'Not all models are that fickle,' I begin.

'What about Naomi Campbell?' he challenges.

I knew she was coming next. 'You mean the hypocrite who claimed she'd rather go naked than wear fur, then paraded down a catwalk in dead animal skins?' I rally, hoping to beat him at his own game. Before he can speak I add, 'Look, there are plenty of beautiful women in this world who genuinely care about animal rights.'

'Yeah, but funny how they always choose the beautiful animals to protect, isn't it? Ones they consider worthy of their looks. Go save a hippo or an alligator, that'll impress me. All we need is another d.a.m.n supermodel who thinks this is some kind of photo opportunity!'

'This wasn't my choice!' Sasha protests, finally speaking up. 'I was placed here.'

'What is this community service?'

Sasha looks despairing. This is going to be a tough week.

'Sorry about that,' Carrie returns. Not a moment too soon. 'We've got cubs arriving tomorrow, I just needed to arrange an early pick-up.'

'Cubs?' I brighten, falling straight into Ty's 'aren't they cute?' trap.

'We don't breed here, that's not what we're about,' Carrie explains, 'but that'll be the second batch of cubs we've had this year. These ones over here are about five months old.'

Carrie leads us forward to a trailer with two inquisitive, roly-poly, chewy-tustly cubs frolicking inside.

'Ca.s.sidy and Kid.'

'As in Butch and Sundance?' Sasha enquires.

'No, David Ca.s.sidy and Kid Rock,' Ty sneers before skulking back over to the yard.

'He's teasing, take no notice,' Carrie breezes.

I can see Sasha getting even more paranoid it's not just animals that don't like her but animal people.

'The cubs help promote us. We take them out on the road to local fairs to get people interested in visiting us here and hopefully adopting a cat or making a donation.'

The two cats get into a lively sc.r.a.p, squealing as they chomp on each other.

'They're getting to the age where they're trouble!' She smiles. 'They're even more rambunctious in the cooler weather.'

'Can you still handle them?' I ask.

'Well, they're starting to want to bite they think it's fun to use your leg like a chew-toy!'

Ouch!

Out of the corner of my eye I see Ty letting himself into the padlocked area, presumably to do some more counseling with Oliver.

'Did Ty grow up around big cats?' I'm curious.

'Not really, he didn't start as an animal trainer until he was twenty-eight. Before that he was an actor.'

'Ty was an actor?' My eyes widen in disbelief. I can't imagine him being too obedient on set.

'But he doesn't really like to talk about that time in his life.'

Well, that's good to know. I load the ammunition, getting ready in case he decides to attack Sasha again.

We spend the afternoon clearing stray debris and weeds from the wasteland and testing each other on the cat names.

'I wonder how big Ca.s.sidy and Kid will be by the time Paradise Park is built?' Sasha ponders, straightening her back. 'Wouldn't it be great if we could just magic it up by the end of the week!'

'That would be one in the eye for Ty.'

'Wouldn't it?' Sasha gets a rarely seen glint of determination in her eyes. 'There must be something we can do.'

'I don't know what. We don't know anyone here. Maybe we should find out how far along they are over dinner?'

'Good idea!' Sasha nods. 'Then we can come up with a plan!'

Though Carrie is happy to chat away about Paradise Park or rather her hopes for it it turns out they don't even have enough money to purchase a single bamboo shoot at present. Ty utters barely a word throughout the meal and excuses himself directly after a helping of peach cobbler, gruffly announcing, 'I'm going to spend the night with Stella.'

Later as Sasha and I lie side by side in our sleeping bags, Sasha asks, 'There wasn't a cat called Stella was there?'

'I don't remember,' I mumble, trying to mold my pillow to better accommodate my head.

'Do you think that's his girlfriend?'

I stop pummeling. 'You don't still fancy him, do you?'

'No,' she pouts.

It's too dark to tell if she's blushing so I reach out and touch her skin. Hot!

'Sasha you do!'

She squirms, then reasons, 'It's just ... there's something about him. The way he is with the cats.'

'But he's such a grouch! And he's been so mean to you.'

Sasha doesn't reply, just m.u.f.fles into her pillow giving a resigned huff of: 'Of course he's got a girlfriend.'

Oh yeah, he's a real charmer, I think to myself. The last thing I want is for her to get even more hurt than she already is. Of course her emotions are out of my hands but unless Ty starts being a bit more civil, I'm going to have to have a word with him. He might be scary but he doesn't know how fierce I can be when it comes to my friends.

I hunker down into my sleeping bag. Hmmm. This has been a good lead up to camping, it won't be so much of a shock to the system now. As a matter of fact I think I might enjoy it Elliot and I in a little nylon triangle making shadow puppets and telling racc.o.o.n stories, how cozy!

I try and picture the others tucked up Zo in some satin-swathed mirrored boudoir, Elise strapped to a metal hospital bed, or similar. Then a lion roars. Wow, this is a trip! I'd actually feel pretty content at this moment in time if it wasn't for the sound of Sasha softly crying.

Chapter 17.

'Lara, quick!' Sasha shakes me. 'You've got to come and see Ty!'

I open one reluctant eye. 'What's he doing now? Mounting Naomi Campbell's head on a plaque for the lounge?'

'Just get up!'

I yawn, creaking my body into a sitting position. 6am. Not good. 'I think I just had a dream where he dared one of the lions to put their head in his mouth,' I shudder.

'Quick!' Sasha urges, unzipping the sleeping bag to spare me having to wriggle out. The second I'm on my feet, she's yanking me down the corridor on tiptoe.

As we approach Ty's room, she guides me to the best vantage point, just outside his doorway. At first all I see is a sun-shrouded silhouette but gradually, as my eyes adjust, the detail reveals Ty sitting nursing a tiger cub eagerly sucking on a baby bottle, white-tipped ears. flipping forward rhythmically with every glug. I look back at Sasha and smile. Even with an ogre in the frame, it couldn't be a cuter picture.

'Isn't it amazing?' she whispers.

As Sasha's no animal lover I can't help wondering if, in her eyes, the cubs have been upstaged by the s.e.x appeal of the man holding them. Until now I'd been so put off by Ty's hostility, his hottie license had automatically been revoked. But, this current situation easily affords him a second chance. I turn back and peer a little closer. It's only now I notice that his shirt is entirely unb.u.t.toned and that his smooth leather-brown skin forms a couple of neat creases just above his belt buckle.

Still focusing on the cubs, Ty says, 'Do you wanna come and say h.e.l.lo?'

I freeze. Has he seen me? Perhaps he's talking to someone else.

'Lara?' He looks directly at me.

'Um. I'm not really dressed ...' I tug at the collar of my pyjamas.

'They won't mind,' he shrugs, adding, 'We're not in Paris now,' as he notices Sasha.

Oh, he just had to go and spoil it, didn't he? Sasha turns to leave but I grab her hand and pull her in alongside me.

'Wanna hold one?' Ty extends an arm with a dangling furball on the end.

'Are you sure?'

'Just make sure you put a hand under their b.u.t.t so they feel secure.'

The cub looks so much like a toy I'm surprised to find him warm-bodied and wet of tongue. I shuffle him round so I can rumple the fur on his head. It's soft but not as sleek and silky as I was expecting. In fact, bar his downy pink tummy, his stripy beige ensemble looks and feels like teddy-bear fur that's worn and tufty from excessive cuddling.

'That's Max.'

'Hey boy,' I coo, besotted.

'Short for Maxine. It's a girl,' Ty corrects me.

'Oh.'

I go to pa.s.s her to Sasha but she immediately backs off.

'No, it's okay.'

Ty looks up, surprised.

'You can take her,' he says gruffly.

'I'm all right, I'd rather watch.'

'They haven't got fleas, if that's what you're worried about.'

'No, I'm not really good with animals, she'll probably start crying.'

Ty hesitates a moment and then says, 'Take Theo. He won't cry if he's got a bottle in his mouth.'

Lordy Miss Claudie! Are we having a breakthrough? I watch Sasha awkwardly take hold of the cub, trying not to break the contact between his busy mouth and the bottle. 'It's easier if you sit,' Ty suggests, offering his seat.